‘Crossed’ path to pic

Ennis' horror comicbook heads to bigscreen

“Kick-Ass” is turning into a model for producers to get comicbook pics on the bigscreen.

Ken F. Levin has enlisted Michael De Luca, Jason Netter and Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Prods to help independently finance and produce an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ apocalyptic horror comicbook series “Crossed” before shopping it to distributors.

“Crossed,” published by Avatar Press and drawn by Jacen Burrows, revolves around a group of survivors in a world where most people have been possessed by evil incarnate and those who haven’t hide in order to avoid being murdered.

Ennis has already penned a version of the script that is being shown to directors.

“It turns out Garth writes as well for film as he does for comics, which is saying a great deal indeed,” Netter said in a statement. “Garth’s screenplay has just knocked all of us out.”

Ennis is a high-profile scribe in the comicbook biz who breathed new life into the “Punisher” series for Marvel and created “The Boys,” an edgy take on a group of vigilantes who punish superheroes when they misbehave. That property is set up at Sony. He also created “Preacher,” for DC Comics label Vertigo, which also is being adapted by Sony.

De Luca will produce through his Sony-based shingle, while Netter will shepherd through Kickstart Comic Art Studios, and Dana Brunetti will oversee for Trigger Street, which will be instrumental in locking down financing.

Levin and Kickstart are also producing “The Boys,” “Preacher” and “The Red Star,” also based on a graphic novel.

“Kick-Ass” was produced independently by director Matthew Vaughn when studios rejected the $28 million project. It generated heat and quickly landed distribution by Lionsgate when footage was shown off at Comic-Con last summer. It bows this weekend.

“Crossed” has been one of Avatar Press’ biggest sellers, according to William Christensen, founder and publisher of the indie label. The series was recently compiled in a trade paperback.